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Chapter 3
Chapter Summary The chapter starts off with Jack yet again trying to prove his worth to the boys on the island. We find Jack trying to track down, like an animal, a pig in the jungle, but he is having difficulty actually finding one. His frustration eventually leads to him returning to the main area, where Ralph and Simon are hard at work building shelters for the boys. Ralph is annoyed with the boys, because none of them stayed to help build the shelters; the boys aren't taking their situation seriously. While explaining his anger, Ralph is on a completely different page than Jack, who is still obsessing about how he is going to kill a pig. During this dialogue, the reader witnesses the first, although small, confrontation between Jack and Ralph, where Ralph is beginning to get fed up with Jack's priorities. Towards the end of the chapter, Simon is seen entering a secluded area of the jungle, unknown to the other boys. This scene shows the reader a mysteriousness about Simon, and quite possibly foreshadows coming events. Literary Analysis (Symbolism, Allegory, Characterization) * Symbolism is a commonly used literary element in the book Lord of the Flies. The pig is a symbol of savageness. Jack is becoming obsessed with wanting to kill this pig. While he is becoming more and more obsessed with wanting to kill the pig, he is becoming more and more "savage-like". Ralph wants to build shelters, while all Jack wants to do is hunt. He thinks the most important thing for him to do while on this island is to hunt. The pig shows how Jack is turning into a savage. He is becoming more inhumane and animal-like and losing all forms of society. *On the other hand, the shelters are a form of symbolism. The shelters show order and organization. Ralph and Piggy think it is necessary to build the shelters in order to survive. They claim they need the shelters first, then they can hunt and do everything else they need to do. They still have a sense of society in them. They are civilized while Jack is turning into an animal. *Another literary device, allegory, is used in the novel. One major example that is seen continued in chapter 3 is island itself. The island that the boys are stranded on can be interpreted as an allegory for society. In this chapter, some of the first examples of the breakdown of their power structure and society is witnessed with the building of the shelters. Many of the boys lost interest in the shelters, and went to do what they wanted to do with their newfound freedom, leaving Ralph and Simon to finish them. This relates back to society in that if people are not working together, in any type of society, whether it's large or on a small-scale, the society will not be able to run smoothly. Bad leadership can also contribute to this collapse. *Another major literary device used in Lord of the Flies is characterization. The author uses an indirect way of describing the personalities of the characters by showing the reader the actions and dialogue of the characters. This is seen in chapter 3, and one great example of this is Jack hunting a pig at the beginning of the chapter. Through his actions and dialogue, Jack can be described as a determined, and obsessive person, mainly because of the fact that killing a pig is all he can think about. Even when Ralph is explaining that their number one priority is being rescued, Jack says, "Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I'd like to catch a pig first-(Golding 53)." With this line, it is easy to see that Jack does not have his priorities straight. Additionally, Jack can be described as someone who doesn't think ahead and "lives in the now", because of these priorities. Instead of helping Ralph build shelters for the boys, Jack wants to hunt. Literary Devices *One major literary device used throughout chapter 3 is imagery. Imagery is mainly expressed towards the end of the chapter when Simon enters the forest. "Flower and fruit grew together on the same tree and everywhere was the scent of ripeness and the booming of a million bees at pasture (page 56)." This quote is used to show how imagery is used to keep the readers interested in the book and create a picture in their mind about the setting. The author uses imagery throughout the chapter and the story to make the reader think about what is going on during the story. *Another important literary device used is foreshadowing. When Simon walks into the forest, the other boys become worried about him because it is a place where none of them have been before. This shows how Simon is different than the other boys in the group. He becomes connected with the jungle so this example could maybe predict something that could happen later on in the book. *Dialogue is used throughout the Lord of the Flies to show the different personalities between the characters. "We want meat." "Well, we haven't gotten any yet. And we want shelters...(page 51)." Jack is becoming obsessed with wanting to kill the pig. He isn't thinking things through, instead, he is just acting upon what he is thinking right at the moment. Ralph and Piggy think it is necessary to build the shelters because they are thinking in the future. They think not only will it protect them from rain but it will protect the younger boys from the beastie. Ralph and Piggy are thinking ahead while Jack is not. This dialogue shows the different personality traits between some of the characters in the book. Quotations "'If you're hunting sometimes you catch yourself feeling as if-' He flushed suddenly. 'There's nothing in it of course. Just a feeling. But you can feel as if you're not hunting, but--being hunted, as if something's behind you all the time in the jungle (Golding 53).'" "'Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I'd like to catch a pig first-' He snatched up his spear and dashed it into the ground. The opaque, mad look came into his eyes (Golding 53)." "'People don't help much.' He wanted to explain how people were never quite what you thought they were (Golding 54)." Works Cited: Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 1954. Print